This summer, Sportscenter aired a popular video of an outraged minor league manager arguing a call.
After the standard shouting and spitting in the umpire’s face, the manager started throwing bases. The climax had him on all fours, crawling towards the umpire and tossing the resin bag at him as if it were a grenade.
But would Gerald Cassard, Loyola’s newest head baseball coach, have been smiling? No way.
“I’m not going to jump up and down and scream and holler,” Cassard said. “We’re going to play with controlled intensity. Play from the first pitch to the last pitch.”
Cassard took the reins in July after former coach Doc Beeman resigned to take the head coach position at Benedictine College.
Besides experience – he was Loyola’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator last season and has been coaching since 1998 -Cassard brings a cool, calm demeanor to the team.
That could be exactly what this Loyola squad needs after finishing 18-39 last season and ranking dead last in the conference in batting average, runs scored and earned run average.
“If you do your thing right, it’s all good. He’ll be the first to tell you,” said marketing junior Josh Borges, whose five home runs last season made him best on the team.
“But if you mess up, he’ll also be the first to tell you. That’s good. You need a coach like that.”
Cassard’s calmness shouldn’t be mistaken for complacency, however. He understands that this is a team that’s going to need to work hard in order to stay competitive.
The only way that is going to happen is by going back to the fundamentals, Cassard says, and by doing the little things right.
One element that may help a Loyola revival is Cassard’s ability as a recruiter. Already he has convinced two talents to come to Loyola: general business freshmen Taylor Domengeaux and Sam Dodge.
Domengeaux pitched for three district championship teams during his career at Hahnville High School, about an hour west of New Orleans. In 2007 he went 9-0 with a sparkling 1.05 earned run average as a starter.
Coming from West Albany High School in Oregon, Dodge, an infielder, was equally impressive with his bat. He finished last season with a .411 batting average and was named to the All-State team.
It can be tricky to sign impressive players to Loyola, considering the team’s lack of scholarships. He attributes his success to recruiting not only good players, but good students.
“Loyola is a unique place because of the combination of athletics and academics,” Cassard said. “I think the kids know why they’re here. Athletics is part of the experience. The ultimate reason they are here is to get a degree.”
So when the season opens on Jan. 26, will this mean more wins? Will this season be any different from the last?
“We accepted losing. Losing isn’t acceptable,” Borges said. “Coach is gonna turn things around.”
Chad Bower can be reached at [email protected]
